Star Wars, the Concert: In An Arena Far, Far Away

We just caught wind of a fascinating arena show that’s now touring the country – a major multimedia spectacle wrapped around the universe of “Star Wars.”

It’s called “Star Wars: In Concert,” and tonight it sets up shop in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, before moving on to Baltimore, New Jersey and New York City.

At first blush, it’s a concept that left me skeptical: How exactly can they convert 12 hours of filmmaking into an arena symphony show worth seeing? But the closer you look at all the fine print, this more intriguing this thing becomes. Lucasfilm has collaborated in editing down the film franchise into a handful of thematic segments, John Williams’s score has then been reconfigured to match these themes, and Anthony Daniels – C-3PO himself – has been brought in to provide narration, glueing the various pieces together.

All this has then been paired with one towering movie screen, a full symphony, a live choir, and a traveling museum exhibit stocked full of “Star Wars” musical memorabilia.

The scope of it all impressed me. And then I came upon this video which really breaks down the production, revealing all the effort that’s gone into this big-league musical celebration. I think I’m going to do a little more digging, to see what this touring show is like, but what do you all think? Sort of impressive, no?